The general class of poly(alkylene oxide) vinyl carboxylic ester polymers is known. Both miscible and immiscible blends of itaconate polymers with other polymeric components have been reported in the literature.
Miscible polymer blends are desirable because they provide a route to producing materials having improved properties such as easier processing, better mechanical stability, better chemical resistance, and lower cost in production. Miscible blends do not undergo phase separation, thus helping avoid stratification of the polymeric components during or after processing. Miscibility ensures homogeneity and unity of properties of the blend. Miscible blends exhibit a single glass transition temperature ("T.sub.g ") and tend to be transparent (in the absence of crystallinity).
Immiscible blends are opaque and, because of the low physical attractive forces across the phase boundaries, suffer from delamination at the phase boundaries. Consequently, immiscible blends are less desirable for a number of uses.
While a number of miscible polymer pairs are known, the miscibility of polymer blends remains unpredictable. There is a continuing desire to discover components which form miscible blends with poly(alkylene oxide) vinyl carboxylic ester polymers.